http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/04Apr2005_news03.phpzAirport, department store, hotel targeted zSpread of violence to tourist spot worries govt
POST REPORTERS
Songkhla _ At least two people died and 52 were injured, many seriously, in three bomb explosions that went off at Hat Yai international airport, a department store and a hotel almost simultaneously last night.
The incidents caught authorities off-guard as the ongoing violence involving Muslim militants has mostly taken place in the three border provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat.
The first explosion went off about 8.25pm at Carrefour department store on Phetkasem road in Hat Yai town. Police believe it was a home-made bomb planted in a rubbish bin in front of the store and triggered remotely by a mobile phone.
The explosion shattered the front glass window panes of the store and wounded at least five people. Many people were at the store for Sunday shopping.
Police closed the store before cordoning off the area and scouring the store for a possible second bomb.
As a precaution, police teams were also sent to other stores such as Lotus and Big C.
Confusion reigned as reports spread that suspicious-looking objects were found at different locations.
At Hat Yai airport, a bomb exploded at a chair near the public relations counter of the domestic arrivals lounge.
Two people died, and many were wounded.
Athit Piamsuphasap, an interior decorator, said he was in the departure lounge waiting for a plane to take him back to Bangkok when he heard a blast near a book store.
Mr Athit said he saw a foreign teenager among the seriously injured.
Another eyewitness, Sanaeha Sunthornnon, 30, was also waiting for her plane back to Bangkok. She came downstairs to the arrival lounge to buy coffee when the bomb exploded.
She said she suspected a man in a blue shirt she saw earlier who was carrying a back pack and looking nervous.
Ms Sanaeha said ambulances and police took more than 30 minutes to arrive, which was too long.
She said security at the airport was lax. Earlier, her sister left her bag unattended but it seemed to attract no special attention from security personnel.
Deputy governor Apichart Jungsawet said following the incident two domestic flights bound for Bangkok were cancelled, leaving many passengers stranded at the airport.
However, two Hat Yai-bound flights were allowed to land.
Bancha Pattanaporn, acting president of Airports of Thailand, said AoT had tightened security measures at all airports under its responsibility, including Don Muang in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Phuket following the Hat Yai airport blast.
AoT had requested help from police and security authorities to control all airports and strictly screen passengers, and impose a ban on non-travellers from going inside all premises around the clock, he said. A few minutes after the airport blast, another bomb planted in a motorcycle went off at the parking lot of Green World Palace Hotel in Muang district. Nobody was hurt.
Gen Sirichai Tunyasiri, commander of the Southern Border Provinces Peace-building Command, admitted he was worried about the spread of violence from the three troubled provinces into Songkhla, a tourist spot.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and Defence Minister Thammarak Issarangkura na Ayudhaya have called an urgent meeting of military and security agencies today at Government House.